One of Richard Wilson’s incredible temporary works, Turning the Place Over colonised the former Yates’s Wine Lodge at Cross Keys House, Moorfields. It was launched on 20 June 2007 and operated until 8 January 2011, when it closed.

Co-commissioned by the Liverpool Culture Company and Liverpool Biennial, co-funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and The Northern Way, and facilitated by Liverpool Vision, the project was conceived as a stunning trailblazer for Liverpool’s Year as European Capital of Culture 2008, and the jewel in the crown of the Culture Company’s public art programme.

Turning the Place Over consisted of an 8 metres diameter ovoid cut from the façade of the Cross Keys house building in Liverpool city centre and made to oscillate in three dimensions. The revolving façade rested on a specially designed giant rotator, usually used in the shipping and nuclear industries, and acted as a huge opening and closing ‘window’, offering recurrent glimpses of the interior during its constant cycle during daylight hours.

The construction programme started in February 2007 and involved the careful deconstruction of the façade across three floors of the building, which was then reconstructed and fixed to the enormous pivot installed at the heart of the building. This astonishing feat of engineering stunned audiences on many levels. Disturbing and disorientating from a distance, from close-up passers-by had a thrilling experience as the building rotated above them.

Turning the Place Over has been commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and co-funded by the Liverpool Culture Company, Northwest Regional Development Agency, CityFocus and The Northern Way.

The Northern Way is investing £4.4million into the Welcome to the North programme as part of its Marketing the North to the World investment priority. A small number of iconic artworks will be positioned at key gateways as part of an innovative overall £10 million programme, which has been developed with Arts Council England, the three northern Cultural Consortia and other partners. The Northern Way is a unique collaboration led by the three Northern Regional Development Agencies (One NorthEast, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Yorkshire Forward) working with partners including Arts Council England to close the £30 billion output gap between the North and the average for England over a 25 year period.